Addresses: Department of Financial and Accounting, The University of Sfax Higher Institute of Business Administration (ISAAS), Tunisia ' Department of Financial and Accounting, The University of Sfax Higher Institute of Business Administration (ISAAS), Tunisia

Abstract: This study investigates the impact of venture capital (VC), retained ownership and board structure on initial public offering (IPO) in France. Based on a sample of 177 French IPOs over the period 2001-2007, our results show that board independence and VC are negatively and significantly related to the level of underpricing, indicating that these two factors play important roles in mitigating asymmetry information between the issuer and potential investors. Further, this study provides evidence that the level of underpricing is positively associated with board size. However, the CEO duality and retained ownership by insiders are found to be insignificant in explaining the first day returns.